Inside AFP

Foundation of AFP is Its Medical Editors

ED ALDERMAN

Am Fam Physician. 2006 Jun 1;73(11):1871.

The medical editors of AFP work as a team under the direction of Editor Jay Siwek, M.D., to bring together the best information for each issue. This final part of a three-part profile looks at four editors based in different parts of the country who contribute to the success of AFP. Other medical editors were highlighted in the May 1 and May 15 issues.

Charles J. Carter, Jr

Assistant Editor Charles J. Carter, Jr., M.D., received his medical degree from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia and serves there as an assistant professor of family medicine. He completed his residency at Palmetto Health Richland Family Medicine Residency Program in Columbia, S.C., where he now is assistant resident program director.

A 2002–2003 AFP medical editing fellow, Dr. Carter has served AFP as editor of the Photo Quiz, USPSTF, and Putting Prevention into Practice departments. Describing work on the journal as “a joy,” he said that helping his fellow family physicians continue their education and improve their patient care is very rewarding.

He was surprised when he discovered that some pharmaceutical companies “ghost write” articles for submission to other journals. “I am proud that AFP has a strict policy against this,” he said. Asked to name the most unusual topic he's covered as a medical editor, Dr. Carter says, “ear wax–there's more to it than you think!”

Kenny Lin

Assistant Editor Kenny Lin, M.D., is an assistant professor of family medicine at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., and is in private practice in Arlington, Va. He received his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine and completed a residency at Lancaster (Pa.) General Hospital before being selected as AFP's 2004–2005 medical editing fellow.

Dr. Lin edits manuscripts and Letters to the Editor, is a secondary editor of Curbside Consultation and Photo Quiz, and writes Tips from Other Journals.

He said the topics covered in “the best clinical review journal in the world” sometimes include the sublime and outrageous. One letter described a patient, allergic to shellfish, who had a similar reaction after eating cicadas; the writer noted that cicadas, like shellfish, are arthropods. “My Internet search not only confirmed the cicada's classification as arthropod, but also turned up several ‘tasty’ recipes for human consumption — although you won't find these in AFP,” Dr. Lin said.

Karl E. Miller

Assistant Editor Karl E. Miller, M.D., is a professor and the vice chair of the Department of Family Medicine, Chattanooga Unit, University of Tennessee College of Medicine. He received his medical degree from the Medical University of Ohio, Toledo, and completed his residency at Flower Hospital, Sylvania, Ohio. He also completed a faculty development fellowship at Michigan State University, East Lansing.

Dr. Miller began working on AFP in 1997, and is in charge of Newsletter. He enjoys the fact that the job brings with it the opportunity to stay current on the literature. “[It] provides me with valuable information that I routinely pass on to the various learners I teach.”

He said that the friendships he has developed at AFP have helped shape him “not only as an editor, but also as a physician, a colleague, and a person.”

Allen Shaughnessy

Contributing Editor Allen Shaughnessy, Pharm.D., is an adjunct professor of public health and family medicine at the Tufts University Family Medicine Residency, Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Mass. He received his doctor of pharmacy degree at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, where he also completed a faculty development fellowship. In addition, Dr. Shaughnessy completed a primary health care policy development fellowship sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In 2002, he began working on AFP, serving as editor of the STEPS new drug review department and as co-editor of the Clinical Pharmacology series. He said that providing up-to-date information is an education in itself. “I have learned a lot about the topics we've covered,” he said. “I've learned from the other editors how to be a better editor and how to pay attention to details.”